Where do you find your books?

[Ann]

I like reading reviews alot. But only really reviews that don't mention the plot of the story. That can be kinda hard to find. But I also like to walk around book shops to see pretty covers of things.

... I've found alot of awful books that way.

How do you find your latest reads?

[G.G.]

My latest reads are all indies, so they come from either book giveaways, read to review, friends I bought books to encourage, and so forth. I have a list of books to last me years just by doing that. I have had to separate the to-read list with a next to-read also because of that. (I read printed giveaways before ebooks because they cost the author money unlike ebooks.)
I used to love to go in book stores and check books, read blurbs etc. I was pretty lucky with those. I'd do it again, if I didn't have so many to read already. :P

[Brian]

I tend to read books from friends who chat with me, or if it's from one of my favorite authors. Every once in a while I find something in a bookstore that looks so amazing that I am forced to get it. I have a long backlog of books that I haven't had a chance to read yet. I just finished Allegiant, so a review will be coming soon. Probably tonight if I don't get into a zone writing Box of Crayons (my next writing contest short story).

[Ann]

Must admit that nearly all my books recently have been indie ones I've been trying for review :p

Other than that it's been books I've wanted to read for ages or books that are recommended to me on twitter

Also @G.G I love book stores, I run my fingers along the shelves and feel their spines like a bookish pervert.

[Harmony]

Lol ... my sister has to forcibly drag me past book stores, otherwise I'll never make it without ending up buried beneath a pile of beautiful,intoxicating, enticing ... okay, you get the idea ... books! (@Bisky...I really am a book perv) :3
For a while now, though, I've had soooo many ebooks to review I've had to go without my Paper Back/Hard Back fix. Most of my reads these days are Indies :D

[G.G.]

Nothing smells better than the inside of a book store. As soon as I enter one, my head tilts backwards and my nostrils flare. At that point, my husband knows he's lost me for a while. The funny thing is, one day, I entered along with a stranger and I noticed the stranger doing exactly the same thing. We smiled at each other and both said, "Ah, that smell!" and we went our separate ways. :P

[Ann]

Smell is a funny thing. I'm a collector of My Little Pony's from the 80s. There is such a thing of 'Pony Smell' when you first take them out of the box, talked about on forums.

But it's probably that the plastic has degraded over the last decade and causes a hallucinogen effect or something more unpleasant to the brain.

[Brian]

@Bisky Now I know why you have those posts on twitter asking for people to like your fb page. With the promise of caterpillers and butterflies. You get a whiff of that PNY (street name) and start hallucinating.

[Ann]

When someone starts complaining of lack of little creatures, I rub a newly opened pony over a letter and send it to them.

[Barbara]

I love trolling through bookstores and have been known to lose an entire day in one! The more big cozy chairs they have, the better. Word-of-mouth probably encourages me to expand my scope and try new authors. I find myself looking up authors I follow on Twitter, and then if I like them, I'll usually read everything they write (but not always!).

[E.A.]

I've spent the last number of months with fellow indies, mostly. But I had to give up this week. My umpteenth read with too much purple prose and so many characters you needed a cheat sheet.

Right now I'm reading the classics (again). I need to read something that may actually help my career; not lit that makes me slap my head and scream, "stop using so many dang commas."

So, Fahrenheit 451 and I are being nice to one another for now.

But mostly I choose my read through Story Cartel, Amazon reviews, Goodreads, and the usual list of suspects.


lake

[James]

This is stating the obvious I guess, but Goodreads has been an invaluable source, not only for finding new books, but getting inspired to go back reread past favorites (or even non-favorites to give another chance to).

The "You also might enjoy these books" that pops up on a listing is a good place to browse, as are "what are you currently reading" threads in groups.

Oddly enough, the book I am reading now, "Graceling" (a popular best seller) I found out about because it came up under the listing of my book "Caitlin Star" on Amazon as "people who bought this also purchased" add-on.

And then there are the brick and mortar stores. I am in a Barnes&Noble at least once a week and an incapable of leaving the store without buying a new book, often just from a cover that catches my eye.

[J. David]

Most of my recent book buys have been indies bcs I wanted to support fellow indie authors. I read a few that have been great, and one that was so bad it made me want to jump off a cliff. (I won't name names, but it was none of yours so don't worry.)

The only other books I buy, when I have money, are books by major authors whom I know I will enjoy. Like "Doctor Sleep" by Stephen King, or "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman. (Haven't gotten to read these yet but I'm working on it!)

[J. David]

Oddly enough, the book I am reading now, "Graceling" (a popular best seller) I found out about because it came up under the listing of my book "Caitlin Star" on Amazon as "people who bought this also purchased" add-on.

I have looked at the recommendations based on my own books at Amazon too! Someday maybe I'll buy a few of them just to see if Amazon is right.

[Mark]

I've been reading a lot of indies lately as well, but traditionally, I tend to comb the bookstores. I especially lean toward the used book shops, and the ones that have really old, hard to find books.

[Harmony]

@ J and @ James ... lol ! I'll have to give that a try :D

[Kevin]

I started reading a lot of indie books a couple years ago, but they're pretty hit or miss (with far more misses than hits). These days I really just read books from popular authors. I like the idea of supporting indie authors, but I don't like wading through too many untested works.

As for where I find my books, I find them on Amazon and Audible.

[Dionne]

Hey everyone. Feel free to delete this if it's too much like self-promotion, but I've recently set up Booktastik for readers. I was frustrated by not having somewhere where I could find decent books without going through hundreds of titles, like when you do the search on Amazon. Booktastik a site where authors advertise their new release or limited time sale/free ebooks. All books are checked to make sure they've been edited and look like a professional product. It costs nothing for readers to subscribe or you can just go to the site and have a look around :). www.booktastik.com.

[G.G.]

Don't forget to check Smashwords before the deals end on March 8th. It's a week long promotion organized by SW and authors were invited to discount their books. From 100% free to 50% cheaper. Browse and discover new books for cheap. :P
(You can do a search through only the discounted books, by genre and price... cuts down on numbers.)

[J. David]

G.G. wrote: "Don't forget to check Smashwords before the deals end on March 8th. It's a week long promotion organized by SW and authors were invited to discount their books. From 100% free to 50% cheaper. Brows..."

I have been really disappointed this year with the performance of my giveaways. Last year over 40 copies were picked up, this year only 2! I suspect it has to do with my placement in the pages of books for sale. I thumbed through 11 pages and never found myself. D:

This is way off topic, sorry! But true.

[Ann]

The last traditionally published book has pushed me to go 100% indie. It's like a special kind of diet :P

[Brian]

@Bisky Have you lost any weight from only reading indie books? ;P

[Andrew]

I tend to find new books by browsing through bookshops, both online and offline, through genres that are of interest to me. Blurbs are more helpful to me than reviews, though I tend to look at overall star ratings.

[Andrew]

I tend to find new books by browsing through bookshops, both online and offline, through genres that are of interest to me. Blurbs are more helpful to me than reviews, though I tend to look at overall star ratings.

[Dionne]

Bisky wrote: "The last traditionally published book has pushed me to go 100% indie. It's like a special kind of diet :P"

You would think traditional publishers would be stepping up their game, so their authors would stand out. I've read some badly edited ones lately.

[Cassandra]

I mostly read indie authors, but I have a few series that I'm reading that are mainstream. Most of the new books I've gotten recently have been ARCs because I've been doing reviews for a blog. I also follow some book blogs that support indie authors so I get recommendations from them.

I really do love going to the bookstore and browsing the shelves but I haven't been without my girls (4 and 6) in a long time.

[Agustin]

Recommendations from both friends and websites are where I've found most of my current reading pile. Lately I've been searching used bookstores for science fiction classics. Digging through shelves of well-loved books is a great way to spend the weekends.

[Kevin]

I also get a lot of books from library book sales and garage sales. $1 for any hardcover! Ha, ha!

[Karey]

Here on Goodreads, there are all kinds of pop-ups that announce various books--which has brought to my attention books I'd have otherwise not heard about.

Also, on Amazon, when I'm looking at a book, there's the, 'You may ALSO like...' and that has introduced me to new authors as well.

[J.G.]

Recently I've found books via Amazon suggestions, almost all Kindle related.

[Carl]

Goodreads, Amazon suggestions, & friends' gifts or recs.